How to Improve Eyesight: 6 Easy Ways to Get Better Vision

Take your eyesight seriously. Regular eye exams are only one of many methods to improve your vision and avoid accidents or illnesses that might impair your vision. Continue reading to learn about alternative methods to enhance your vision.

1. Remove your contacts before showering, swimming, or otherwise getting water on your face.

You're undoubtedly already aware of other contact lens rules, such as never sleeping with them on. However, many contact lens wearers are unaware that they should not get their lenses wet.

Your contact lenses basically act as a sponge. Wearing contacts in the shower or swimming might expose them to germs and parasites. They are absorbed by your lenses, which serve as a channel to your eyes.

Some of these microorganisms can cause eye discomfort or infection, while others can be more serious. One of them is acanthamoeba, a parasite found in lakes and seas that can cause a rare infection known as acanthamoeba keratitis.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, this is a corneal infection that can cause eye discomfort and redness, impaired vision, sensitivity to light, overly watery eyes, and the sensation that something is in your eyes. In severe situations, acanthamoeba keratitis can result in blindness. It can be disastrous.

Again, acanthamoeba keratitis is uncommon. But why put yourself at risk of even little eye discomfort by wearing your contacts in water?

2. Always wear safety glasses when doing home improvement jobs, even if they are simple.

Because Chip Gaines frequently uses a nail gun, it seems to reason that he would wear safety eyewear. Even if you don't have a home improvement show, you should use protective eyewear when doing DIY jobs like hanging a picture frame. We've seen folks try to hang a painting and wind up with a fragment of the nail or frame in their eye.

Eye protection is especially vital if your employment requires you to use tools. Wearing safety goggles can prevent up to 90% of job-related eye injuries, making this a critical step. Sports such as ice hockey, racquetball, and lacrosse can all cause eye injuries. Wear safety glasses. Your eyes will be protected by helmets with protective face masks or sports goggles with polycarbonate lenses.

3. Have your eyes examined at least every two years, and more frequently if required.

Even young children require frequent eye exams. It protects your vision and allows you to see your best. Eye exams can also detect disorders that have no symptoms, such as glaucoma. It is critical to detect them early on when they are easier to cure.

You can consult one of two types of doctors depending on your eye health needs:

Ophthalmologists are physicians who specialize in eye treatment. They are capable of providing routine eye care, treating eye illnesses, and performing eye surgery.
After college, optometrists receive four years of specialized training. They offer general eye care and can diagnose and treat the majority of eye problems. They don't do eye surgery.

• A comprehensive eye exam may include the following components:

🔘Discussing your personal and family medical history
🔘Vision tests to determine if you are nearsighted, farsighted, have astigmatism (a bent cornea that causes blurred vision) or have presbyopia (age-related vision changes)
🔘Tests to determine how effectively your eyes operate together
🔘Eye pressure and optic nerve examinations to detect glaucoma
🔘External and microscopic examination of your eyes before and after dilation
🔘Another testing may be required.

Consult your eye doctor every other year, or more regularly if you have risk factors such as a family history of eye illness.

4. Use a warm compress on your eyes every day.

Meibomian glands in your eyelids pump oil onto the surface of your eyes, forming a healthy tear film. However, as you become older, these glands don’t pump out oil as much as they used to.

Dry eye or blepharitis can occur if your eyelids do not produce enough oil (a condition that causes inflammation of the eyelid). Warmth applied to those glands helps soften any oil that has been plugged, allowing them to function normally.

To use a warm compress, simply wet a washcloth with warm water, close your eyes, and press the compress up against your eyelids for a few moments. If you do this now every day, it can hopefully prevent a problem with a dry eye later on.

• How Does It Help?

A compress is soothing. It can immediately make your eye feel better. It can also:

🔘Add moisture.
It can alleviate the gritty sensation associated with dry eyes.

🔘Keep natural oils from becoming clogged.
Your eyelid glands produce oil. It might become thick or clumpy and clog them at times. You might acquire a stye or chalazion, or your eyelids could enlarge (blepharitis). The heat from a compress can thin the oil, making it easier to drain.

🔘Pain relief.
If you have pinkeye or another illness and are experiencing redness or discomfort, a compress can provide immediate relief.

🔘Spasms or discomfort in the muscles.
The damp warmth might help to relax your eyes.

5. Consume a well-balanced diet.

These include lutein and zeaxanthin, which are present in foods such as spinach, kale, and eggs and may lower your chance of developing chronic eye illnesses. Vitamin C, which is found in a variety of fruits and vegetables (including ones other than oranges), may help to delay the advancement of age-related eyesight loss.

Then there's vitamin E, which may be obtained from vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, and green vegetables like spinach and broccoli, and which may help protect cells in your eyes from tissue breakdown. Omega-3 fatty acids from flaxseeds, chia seeds, walnuts, and salmon are necessary for the healthy functioning of your retina, which transmits visual data to your brain.

There's also zinc (found in oysters, red meat, chicken, beans, crab, lobster, and other foods), which aids in the production of melanin, a protective pigment in the eyes.

Eating a healthy, well-balanced diet also lowers your chances of getting or increasing hypertension and type 2 diabetes, both of which can contribute to vision problems.

6. Wear your sunglasses, even if it's cloudy or freezing outside.

While the sun may appear to be less intense when hidden behind clouds or during the winter, it is always present—and it may still injure your eyes. Sunglasses may shield your eyes from the sun's damaging UV radiation.

While any eye protection is preferable to none, we recommend looking for sunglasses that block 99 to 100 percent of both UVA and UVB rays, screen out 75 to 90 percent of visible light, have perfectly matched color lenses free of distortions and imperfections, and have lenses that are gray to see colors clearly. Wrap-around or close-fitting sunglasses are also perfect for protecting your eyes from all sides.

If you have any concerns about your vision, contact your eye doctor or get one if you don't currently have one. When eye disorders are detected early, they can often be managed or reversed. Translation: In the future, you could appreciate the present for sticking to an eye-care program.